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If I were to offer the truth, what would my business model be? This might seem like a strange question on a blog dedicated to business model design. But when I was reading Harold Pinter's Nobel lecture for the Nobel price in literature price this weekend I was wondering how I could make the link to my blog to justify a posting... And the weekend justifies something "less serious" and more intellectual... doesn't it?

Pinter ends his lecture in Stockholm with the words:

"I believe that despite the enormous odds which exist, unflinching, unswerving, fierce intellectual determination, as citizens, to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory".

So if our value proposition were to offer the truth, which customer segments would we address in order to strive? Ourselves? Our neighbours? Politicians? Business leaders? Religious leaders? Mr. Annan? Mr. Bush? The Pope? Mr. Mbeki? Mr. Gates? The Dalai Lama? And through which channels would we reach them? What customer relationship would we put into place to continuosly offer Pinter's real truth to them? What activities would such a true business model require? What capacities would we have to master? And which partners would be the best positioned to make our business model work? But then... what would this cost? What are the revenue streams? Could we offer the truth at a profit? But then again...

"to define the real truth of our lives and our societies is a crucial obligation which devolves upon us all. It is in fact mandatory".

So let's start the week with knowing what our real obligations are and what is mandatory in the week ahead of us. By the way, don't forget to allow yourselfs 45 minutes to watch Harold Pinter's Nobel lecture.